Jason David administers oral drops of a medical marijuana tincture that he says has greatly helped control the symptoms of his son Jayden's severe epilepsy in Modesto, Calif., in July. A new law in Connecticut will allow patients to try marijuana for a specific list of conditions. Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times/MCT

For people like Lindsey Beck, whose debilitating Crohn's disease kept her bedridden for two years before she discovered medical marijuana, the state's legalization of the drug for medicinal purposes on Monday is a partial win.

That's because though a process now is in place where physicians can recommend their patients try marijuana for a specific list of conditions, and it will be legal for them to use the drug, it still isn't legal to buy cannabis, and the law prohibits growing your own.

The legislation, signed by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy in May, provides no way to legally fill marijuana prescriptions. The Department of Consumer Protection will establish state-approved dispensaries. Still, as of Monday, patients and doctors could begin registering online.

William M. Rubenstein, consumer protection commissioner, said he expects the state program will evolve over time. "This is creating an entire industry from scratch," he said. "What we are focused on is getting a safe and secure distribution system up and running as fast as possible." Included in that is a focus on making sure marijuana grown for palliative use doesn't wind up being used recreationally.

According to the law the system will include between three and 10 dispensaries, from which all medical marijuana will come. Those licensed to grow will face a $25,000 registration fee, and will not sell out of state

Through examining some of the other 16 states where medical marijuana laws exist, Rubenstein said the department will take the best examples and tailor them to Connecticut.

"We think Connecticut will be the best designed," he said. "We learned lessons from other state experiences, both good lessons and bad lessons. We are taking the best we can find and adding better systems here."

Rubenstein declined to provide specific examples, saying his staff is still in the process of proposing regulations. "We have the staff and expertise to really do a good job."

Rubenstein said there will be a hearing in the first half of 2013 so the public can make suggestions.

In the meantime, patients who have conditions such as AIDS, HIV, glaucoma, cancer and Parkinson's disease will be immune from prosecution for possession for use, he said. It still isn't legal for to buy, prompting questions from medical marijuana advocacy groups nationwide.

Karen O'Keefe, director of state policies for the Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington, D.C., based group that advocates for the legalization of marijuana, said it seems strange the state would allow patients to possess and use the drug, but not purchase it until dispensaries are created. She said other states, including Arizona, allowed patients to cultivate their own marijuana until a dispensary was available within 25 miles of their home.

"In some cases will be more difficult for patients not to be able to grow, and have to presumably have to go to the criminal market, but it is better than the 33 states that have no medical marijuana law at all. The legislative process has to compromise sometimes," she said.

Rubenstein didn't have a recommendation to those who qualify for the program before dispensaries are legal, but he said the legislature saw the need to enact the law before the full program was in place to benefit patients. "The compassionate judgment of the legislature was, even in advance of having a safe source and supply, that patients should not be put at risk of arrest and prosecution when they are using marijuana appropriately for a medical condition," he said.

Beck, 28, of Voluntown, said she knew medical marijuana wasn't legal when she started using it a few years ago, but she didn't feel she had choice. "I hit a point where either I was going to end up dead or I was going to figure something out," she said. "I wasn't going to live my life in bed. It is no way to live."

Now without risking arrest, or discrimination when applying for a job, she said she feels more at ease.

Erik Williams, executive director of Connecticut NORML, a marijuana advocacy organization, said that though it is not technically legal for patients to purchase marijuana the laws protections are important. "It is absolutely a huge victory for people throughout the state," he said. "People ... have another choice they can discuss with their doctor."

He said he isn't dissuaded by the gray period until dispensaries are up and running. "The good thing is the department of consumer protection is taking the time and really doing it right to make sure the law works in the long term," he said.

" I'm just curious how this will affect the work place. If a company does drug testing and the individual fails will they be able to still be employed? If so, the employer may have the ability to discriminate against their illness that they normally wouldn't have to disclose. Also, in CT you are not able to randomly drug test so if an employee who has this prescription is working with machinery how will we know that he/she is working safely and not under the influence? "

" Yeah baby!! I been waiting for this. Woohoo! I'm 40yo and I suddenly feel like I'm getting glaucoma. Oh, and I'm not able to get more than 12 hours of sleep per night. So just give me a stick of bubonic chronic, and throw me on the couch with a bag of cheeto's and an xbox.

" Message to the parents of Lindsey Beck !!!.........................Get this book from the library " Patient Heal Thyself ". read howthe author of this book cured himself from Crohn's disease.Do not let your child get hooked on this junk. Yes, there is a cure. Let me know if you followed suggestion. Or maybe you want to have some of that dope. "

" I do not refute the medicinal value of the beloved herb. It does however disturb me to see this man holding a little boy by the neck and dosing him with a narcotic. As we know kids don't function very well in school when they are high on weed. While it may be a blessing for a few, it is by and large just about laying around the house and getting high. Nice work if you can get it. "

" @wondering- you're an idiot. if you want to call someone out on an opinion, make sure they've expressed one. i tend to rant about them when they agitate or protest for special consideration. i have never expressed an opinion, pro or con, on the issue of gay marriage.

" Weed is a mind coltrol substance if you're slow you will get slower..but if you are slow and smoke and think you are fast you will be fast ...I work with lots of street kids and I see it all the time ..to me there's 2 types of weed smokers there's the ones tha smoke and whants to hang around doing nothing ...and there's the one tha smoke and whants to do something some positive some negative ...I know people tha smoke and are the best at what they do so for my experience is not all bad ..king salomon was one of the smarter persons on his days and smoke at all time ... "

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